Riders to the Stars

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Riders to the Stars
Directed by Richard Carlson
Written by Curt Siodmak
Starring Richard Carlson
William Lundigan
Robert Karnes
Martha Hyer
Dawn Adams
Distributed by United Artists Corporation
Release date(s) January 14, 1954 (U.S. release)
Running time 81 min.
Country Flag of the United States United States
Language English
IMDb profile

Riders to the Stars is a science fiction film that was released in 1954 by Ivan Tors Productions.

The head of the secret government project is Dr. Donald Stanton, played by Herbert Marshall. The three selected astronauts are played by William Lundigan, Richard Carlson and Robert Karnes. Martha Hyer plays Lundigan's love interest, while Dawn Adams plays Carlson's girlfriend.

[edit] Plot

A group of scientists, led by William Lundigan (Richard Stanton), is investigating a means to recover some meteors before they enter the atmosphere. Their purpose is to discover how they survived in space for so long without their outer shell becoming brittle. For this purpose, they decide to send astronauts into space—something that had never been done before—and they begin secretly recruiting and testing volunteers.

Three rockets are sent into space, each manned by an astronaut. The first attempts to capture a meteor that is too large, and is destroyed as a result. In the second rocket, the pilot has a psychological break-down. The third and final astronaut attempts to capture a meteor, but ends up burning excessive fuel and risks burning up upon re-entry. The recovered meteor is found to be covered in crystal carbon, and the scientists decide this will be used to coat future space missions.

[edit] External links